Island



2 Sheets-Sheet l M- C. MILLER KNITTING MACHINE Filed Dec.

Feb. 3, 1931.

Feb. 3, 1931.

M. c. MILLER KNITTING MACHINE Filed Dec. 11, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2" aHlllIilll\llllmllllllHllHlllNHl i \IIIIHHLIH'IH'HIIllllllllllillllll z bP 7 m 0 F55 lllllllllllllllllllllllll L? Patented Feb. 3, 1931 UNITEDSTATES MAX 0. MILLER, OF CUMBERLAND, RHODE ISLAND KNITTING MACHINEApplication filed December 11, 1925. Serial No. 74,726.

The invention relates to knitting machines and more particularly totwo-bed, straight knitting machines.

One object of this invention'is to produce a new and improved two-bankmachine which will knit finer gauge goods than has been feasibleheretofore in machines of this type while maintaining the amount of yarnbetween the end needles of the beds equal to the amount between any twoneedles in the same bed.

Another object of the present invent-ion is to provide in a two-bedmachine a novel and improved means for knocking over the loop 1 as it isformed by the needle, and for holding down the same as the needle rises.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism of thetype above described, capable of presenting to certain of the needles avarying knock-over, thereby causing the needles associated therewith todraw loops of varying lengths.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide a novel'and simplemechanism for causing the web holders todraw down and hold properly thelength of loop taken by their corresponding needles as the needles arebeing projected over the work.

It is of great importance in knitting on both banks of a two-bankmachine, especially in fine gauge work, to maintain vthe amount of yarnbetween the end needles of the beds equal to the amount between any twoneedles in the same bed. The inventor is not familiar with any existingform of knock-over and web holder suited for use in a two-bank machinewith which it is possible to make the distance from knock-over toknock-over in the two beds small enough for fine gauge fabric,limitations on gauge in these machines having been reached ratherbecause of the amount of yarn necessary between end needles than in anyrequired thickness in needle or portion slotting construction.

The reason that it has not been possible to make this distance fromknock-over to knockover and from bed to bed shorter is that theknock-overs have been designed to operate at m a greater or less angleto each other, thereby making it necessary to have a certain amount ofspace between them for their movements. Accordingly a feature of thepresent invention consists in a novel and improved knockover and webholder so designed and operated as to require a minimum of space betweenthe needle beds. The knock-over surfaces in the present construction areparallel and need be separated only by a distance necessary to allow thepassage of the Web holder hooks which it has been shown by demonstrationneed be only .020 inches long for fine gauges. The Web holders arearranged to operate on parallel planes thus maintaining the knockoversurfaces at all times a minimum distance apart.

In two-bed machines knitting fabric in which parts are knitted ofvarying thickness of yarn, especially machines adapted for knittinghosiery,it is desirable that the needles take more yarn and make looserloops in that portion of the fabric in which the heavier yarn is feedingthan in the portion where the lighter yarn is feeding. When the toe ofthe stocking is to be made of heavy yarn and the foot of lighter yarn, acomparatively simple adjustment of the needle cams may be made to varythe length of loop taken by all of the needles. But in case the stockingis designed with a double sole and the line between the sole, made withheavy yarn, and the top of the foot or instep, made with lighter yarn,comes about in the middle'of the needle beds, a simple adjustment of theneedle cams will not cause the desired variation in the length of theloops since it is necessary to cause a portion only of the needles ineach bank to draw shorter loops while the others continue to draw longloops.

Another feature of the present invention, therefore, is directed tocausing only a portion of the needles to draw more or less yarn which isattained in this instance by varying the position of the knock-oversassociated therewith.

In machines to which the present invention relates, as the needles riseabove the work, the web holders should be retracted slightly below theline of the needles so that the Web holder hooks will draw down the oldloops firmly to the back line of the needlesto prevent/them from rising.It is desirable that web holders and knock-overs on which short loopsare being produced be adapted to draw a lesser distance than those onwhich long loops are being produced, for if the loops are not drawn downfar enough they will not be. properly held by the web holder hooks; andif too far the yarn will break. A further feature of the inventionconsists in the provision of means by which this result can be secured.

Other features of the invention consist in the devices, combinations andarrange--. ment of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The features of the present invention and the advantages attainedthereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art from thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings.

A preferred form of the invention as embodied in a two-bed straightknitting machine employing latch needles is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Fig..

1 is a cross section of so much of the machine as is necessary to showthe new features; Fig. 2 shows in a somewhat diagrammatic manner the webholders and their control bars with the knock-over portions of the webholders set alike; Fig. 3 is a reproduction of Fig. 2, except that theknock-over portions of the web holders are varied; Fig. 4 is a sideelevation with one needle bed removed, the view being taken on thevertical center line; Fig. 5 is a detailed side elevationof the webholder cam slide viewed from the outside; and Fig. 6 is a detail view ofthe web holder draw down cams.

The machine herein disclosed embodying the present invention is atwo-bed machine of the usual Lamb .construction having two banks ofneedles set at an incline to each other, with butts on the needles, andcams arranged above the beds to actuate the needles.

Referring to the drawings, the needle beds are indicated at 1 and 2 andhave needles indicated at 3 and 4 mounted on them to reciprocate at anangle to each other. A yarn eye 5 .is provided to reciprocate above theneedles,

and the web holders are indicated at 6 with kinockover hooks b.

The needles are provided with butts 4a which project above the'needlebeds into engagement with needle-actuating cams of ordinaryconstruction. The bars 8 and 9 mounted lengthwise above the needle bedsform guides for the needle cam slide 10 which carries the stitch cams 11and 11a and the raising cam 12. These cams arethrown into and out ofcontact with the butts 4a to actuate the needles by means of devices ofusual construction indicated at 10a, 10b and 100,

surfaces a and hold-down and are adjustable in the usual manner tocause'thetneedlesj to draw down more or less yarn, depending upon thedegree of tight-- ness or looseness with which the full course is to beknitted.

The web holders 6 are pivotally mounted at a on the sliders 6 to move upand down between the beds and are arranged in two banks corresponding tothe needle banks with the knock-over surfaces of the opposing webholders separated only by the distance necessary for the clearance ofthe web holder hooks b. The motions of the web holders in the two banksparallel each other so that the two series of knock-overs may be held atall times a minimum distance apart. Slots cut at the apex of the needlebeds serve to guide the web holders accurately between the needles.

The knock-over surfaces are normally held ers along part of its length,the rest being cut away to permit certain of the web holders to swing ontheir pivots as the support bar 13 is withdrawn. When in thecourse of aknitting operation it is desired to cause certain of the needles to makesmaller loops to accommodate smaller yarn, the control bar 13 is movedback guided by the engagement of the slots Z) with the pins 15 to permitthe knock-overs associated with these needles to fall away from thecenter line. In this manner by varying the position of the knock-over,the effective drawn-down stroke of the needles beyond the knock-oversurfaces is diminished and shorter loops will be formed.

The web holder sliders 6 are mounted to reciprocate vertically in slotsin the web holder beds 7, being held in place by bars 17 and 18. Theyare provided with short or long butts b for engagement with the webholder operating cams, short butts for those sliders actuating webholders with variable knock-overs, and long butts for the other sliders.Web holder cam slides 19 are mounted to slide in grooves in the bars 17and 18, being connected with the driving mechanism of usual constructionthrough the link 20. a

The other function of the web holders, which have been described. aspresenting knock-over surfaces, is to prevent the finished loops on theknock-overs from rising with the upward thrust of the needles. A hook I)is formed at the upper end of the knockover surface of the web holder toserve this purpose. As the needle begins its upward motion the webholder is retracted slightly below the line of the needles, so that theloop is caught firmly on the hook and drawn down to its proper positionon the shank of the needle. The amount of movement. the

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with needles drawing shorter loops.

hook 6 makes beyond the back line of the needles should be carefullyregulated in accordance with the length of loop drawn, for if the webholder is not drawn down far enough, the loop will not be held on thehook, and if too far, the yarn will break. A simple adjustment of thedraw-down action of the whole bank of web holders may be obtained byarranging the bars 17 and 18 for an up-and-down movement to change theposition of the cam slide 19. The present construction also provides foran adjustment in the same bed between those web holders which arehandling long loops and those with the variable knock-overs which areassociated To this end two sets of draw-down cams 21 and 21 are carriedon each Web holder cam slide. 19 pivotally mounted one over the other onpins 22, so that cam 21 will act to draw down the short butts while cam21 comes in con-- tact only with the long ones. Control pins 23positioned to come in contact with projections a limit the swingingmovement of the cams, but may be withdrawn to permit the cams to moveout of contact with the slider butts by means of mechanism placed on therear or outer side of the web holder cam slide. There are four of thesecontrol pins, the two upper pins being arranged to extend over theprojections a on the draw down cams 21 and the two lower pins beingarranged to extend below the projections a. ofthe earns 21. A lift cam32 is mounted to slide on a ledge 31 fastened to the web holder camslide 19, and is provided with a pin which projects through a slot 33 inthe slide, so that the operation of the slide. will cause the cam to beshogged back and forth in the path of the butts b to cooperate firstwith one and then with the other set of drawdown cams.

Each pin 23 extends backward through the cam slide and through a sleeveor cylinder 27 fastened to the slide, and has at its rear end a leverarm 24 carrying at its free end a small pin 25. The sleeve or cylinder27 has a cam surface a engaging a set screw form ing a radiallyextending lug 2Gon the control pin 23. When the control pin is re volvedby means of its lever arm, the lug riding on the cam surface a causesthe pin 23 to retract out of engagement with the web holder draw-downcams against the force of a combination tortion and compression spring28 provided to hold the pin 23 in position. The upper control pins areactuated from the pattern mechanism of the machine through connectionswhich include a plate 34 mounted on a rock shaft 42 to come in contactwith the small pin 25 on the lever 24, lever arm 40fastened to theshaft, and link 41 to actuate the lever. The lower control pins areoperated by a similar series of connections including the plate or bar35 mounted on the rock shaft 43 which is rocked by means of lever arm 38and link 39.

Assuming now that it is desired to knit a stocking commencing at thetoe, the web holders 6 will all be positioned with their knock-oversurfaces in line so that the needles will take an equal. amount of yarnis to be knitted, that is, a stocking in which the sole or bottom of thefoot, has the same weight as the toe, while the top of the foot orinstep is knitted of lighter yarn, it is desirable to knit the instepportion somewhat tighter. Since the line between the sole and the instepusually comes about in the middle of the beds, that portion of the bedupon which the tight instep fabric is to be knitted should be capable ofdrawing a shorter loop. Therefore, when this point has been arrived atin the knitting, the web holder control bar 13 is caused to retract,permitting the web holders associated with the instep needles to fallback, thus varying the position of the knock-overs to reduce the size ofthe loops drawn by these needles. In this Way it is possible to knit asloose a sole as necessary to accommodate heavy yarns while taking fulladvantage of the improved line gauge construction to knit more tightlythe lighter yarns used for the instep portion.

The draw down earns 21 and 21 on 'the web holder cam slide 19 are actedupon by flat springs 29 mounted in'pins 30 on the cam slide and tend tohold the cams in the position indicated at X in dotted lines at the leftof Fig. 5. While the same weight of yarn is being used on all theneedles and the needles are all drawing the same length of loop all ofthe control pins 23 may be in retractedposition so that the cams 21 and21 can move as they are engaged by the butts of the web holder slidersor the lower control pins may be in advanced position to restrain themovements of the cams 21 in one direction. Assuming that a web holdercam slide is moving in the direction of the arrow in Figs. 4 and 5 thebutts of the cam holder sliders as they pass beneath the cams 21 and 21at the left of F ig.'5 will either be depressed sli htly by the cam 21in case the cam is hel from movement by a pin 23 or will pass by the camwithout being depressed in case the cam is free to move. After passingthe cams 21 and 21' the butts of the sliders will. engage the cam 32 andthe corresponding web holders will be lifted. The butts of the slidersengaging with the cams 21 and 21 at the right of Fig. 5 will swing thecams intothe position indicated in dotted lines, in which position thesurfaces e of the cams will act on the butts. to depress the sliders andweb holders. The cams will swing against the pressure of the springs 29into'contact with a stop pin Z and assume the position indicated at Y inFig. 5.

During the knitting of a double sole a portion of the needles in eachbank draw longer loops than the remaining needles, as has beenexplained. At this time while the web holder cam slide is moving in thedirection of the arrow in Figs. 4 and 5, the

draw down cams 21 and 21 at the left of Fig. 5 are held in the positionin which they appear in dotted lines. Cam 21 which operates on thesliders with the long butts is held from movement by the engagement ofits projection a with a control pin 23 so that the long butt sliders aredepressedand the web holders associated with the needles making longloops draw down their loops the desired distance preparatory to theupward thrust of the needles. This movement of the web holders withrelation to the formation of the knitting wave is clearly hown in Fig. 4which illustrates the position taken by the needles and web holders withthe cams in the position shown in Fig. 5.

Due to the fact that the variable knockovers are set for the formationof small loops on a portion of the'bed, the cam 21 in the positiondisclosed at X, Fig. 5, has been released by the withdrawal of itscontrol pin 23 from engagement with the projection a, so that it willslide over the short slider butts without depressing their web holderhooks beyond the back line of the needles associated therewith. In thismanner, it is assured that no undue strain will be placed on the shorterloops while theremaining web holders are drawing down the long loops.When either bed is inactive, both control pins 23 are withdrawn,permitting the leading cams to slide over the butts to prevent the webholder hooks from being drawn below the line of the needles and thus toeliminate anyundue strain on the loops.

The set of cams 21 and 21' acting to draw down the butts immediatelyafter they have passed over the lifting cam 32, are swung not retract-edbeyond the back line of the needles at this point in the operation.

While it is preferred to employ the specific construction andarrangement herein described and illustrated embodying vention in atwo-bank, straight latch needle machine adapted for the production ofhosiery, it should be understood that this construction and arrangementis not essential to the broadest scope of the invention and may bevaried or modified as found desirable or best suited for theconstruction and operation of any machine in which any feature of theinvention is embodied.

What is claimed is:

1. In a two-bed straight knitting machine, the combination with twobanks of independently operating needles of two banks of independentlyoperating Web holder elements corresponding to the two needle banks andoperating on substantially parallel planes, actuating cams for the webholder elements, and parallel beds in which the web holder elements aresupported to cooperate with the actuating cams.

2. In a two-bed straight knitting machine, the combination with twobanks of independently operating needles of two banks of independentlyoperating web holder elements, the web holders of each bank having theirknockover surfaces substantially parallel to those of the web holders inthe other bank, actuating cams for the web holder elements, and parallelbeds in which the web holder elements are supported to cooperate withthe actuating cams.

3. In a two-bed straight knitting machine, the combination with twobanks of independently operating needles of corresponding banks ofindependently operating web holder elements operating in'substantiallyparallel planes and having the knock-over surfaces in one banksubstantially parallel tothe knock over surfaces of the other bank withthe web holder shanksofi'set to bring them into close proximity,actuating cams for the web holder elements, and parallel beds inwhichthe web holder elements are supported to cooperate with theactuating cams.

4. In a two-bed straight knitting, machine, the combination with twooppositely inclined banks of independently operating needles of twocorresponding banks of indepe ently operating web holders interposedbetween the needle banks to operate in substantially parallel planes andhaving the knock-over surfaces in one bank substantially parallel to theknock-over surfaces of the other bank,

the insliders for the web holders, actuating cams for-the sliders tocontrol the movement of the web holders, and parallel beds in which thesliders are supported to cooperatewith-the actuating cams. p

5. In a knitting machine, the combination of a series of needles, webholdersto coop-v erate with the needles,'means for moving. part of theweb holders to cause certain of the needles to draw shortloops, andmeans for termined in accordance with thelength of loop drawn by thecorresponding needles.

7. In a two-bed straight knitting machine, the combination of a bank ofneedles,;corresponding web holders having knockover surfaces, and meansto move the knockover surfaces of part of the web holders toward andaway from the needle bank to vary the size of the loops drawn by thecorresponding needles without altering the size of the loops formed bythe remaining needles.

8. In a two-bed straight knitting machine, the combination of a bank ofneedles, corresponding web holders, means for imparting a lengthwisemovement to the web holders, and control bars to swing part of the webholders laterally toward and away from the needle bank to vary the sizeof the loops drawn by the corresponding needles. I

9. In a two-bed straight knitting machine, the combination with twobanks of needles of corresponding banks of web holders operating onparallel planes and adapted to slide across the line of the needles,sliders for operating the web holders pivotally connected thereto topermit transverse movement of the web holders, and cams for actuatingthe sliders.

10. In a two-bed straight knitting machine, the combination with twooppositely inclined banks of needles of web holders adapted to slideacross the line of the needles, web holder sliders with butts pivotallyconnected to the web holders to permit transverse movement of the webholders, a cam slide, a lifting cam acting on the butts to slide the webholders across the line of the needles, and draw-down cams forretracting the web holders.

11. In a two-bed straight knitting machine, the combination with twooppositely inclined banks of needles of web holders adapted to slideacross the line of the needles, web holder sliders having some long andsome short butts, a cam slide, a lifting cam acting on the butts toslide the web holders across the line of the needles, and draw-down camsso arranged as to retract the web holders operated by the sliders withshort butts a less distance than those operated by sliders with longbutts.

12. In a two bed straight knitting machine, the combination with twooppositely inclined banks of needles, of web holders, web holder sliderswith butts, a cam slide, a lifting cam acting on the butts to. move theweb holders, draw-down cams for retracting the web holders, and controlpins for positionin the draw-down cams to vary the limits 0 theretracting movement of the web holders.

13. In a two-bed straight knitting machine, the combination with twooppositely inclined banks of needles of web holders adapted to slideacross the line of the needles, web holder sliders having some long andsome short butts, a lifting cam acting on the butts to slide the webholders across the line of the needles, draw-down cams, and control pinsfor positioning the draw-down cams to retract the web holders operatedby the sliders with short butts a less distance than those operated bysliders with long butts.

14. In a two-bed straight knitting machine, the combination with aseries of needles of web holders associated therewith, a plurality ofsets of web holder stitch cams each to actuate certain of the webholders and having diflerent points of maximum down pull, and means forreducing the down pull of one set from its maximum to prevent unduestrain on the loops held by the web holders so controlled during certainphases of the knitting operation.

15. In a knitting machine, the combination with the needles, of webholders provided with knock-over surfaces and a Web holder actuatingmember for each web holder provided with a butt and pivotally connectedto the web holder to permit an adjustment of the web holder transverselyof its length.

16. In a two bed straight knitting machine, the combination of a seriesof needles, a corresponding series of web holders provided withknockover surfaces against which the loops are formed by the needles andhooked portions to hold down the needle loops, means,

for lmparting a lengthwise movement to the Web. holders to hold down theneedle loops, and means for moving a portion of the web holderslaterally to cause the corresponding needles to draw varying lengths ofloops.

17. In a two bed straight knitting machine, the combination of a seriesof needles, a corresponding series of web holders provided withknockover surfaces against which the loops are formed by the needles andhooked portions to hold down the needle loops, sliders pivotallyconnected to the web holdershadapted to impart a lengthwise movementthereto to hold down the'needle loops, and means for moving a portion ofthe web holders laterally about their pivots to cause the correspondingneedles to draw varying lengths 6f loops.

18. In a straight knitting machine, the combination of a series ofneedles, a corresponding series of webholders cooperating with theneedles movable to reform the loops held on the needle shanks to thebacks of the needles, means for causing all the needles of the series todrawone length of loop, actuating means for the web holders, means forcausing a portion of the active needles in the series to draw loops of adiiferent length while I maintaining constant the length of loops drawndown by the remaining active needles of the series, and means forvarying the loop reforming movement of that portion of the webholdersonly corres onding to the needles drawing loops of a di erent length.

19. In a two bed straight knitting machine, the combination with aseries of needles, web holders associated therewith, cams for operatingthe web holders, and means controlling the position of the cams torender the cams operative and inoperative to operate the web holders.

20. In a straight knitting machine, the combination with the needles andmeans cooperating therewith to knit in either direction 30 including webholders, cam means for operating the needles, and web holder cams foroperating the web holders, of means controlling the position of the webholder cams to render operative certain of the web holder cams to holddown the loops during the advancing movement of the needles.

21. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles, ofa series of elements provided with loop knockover surfaces, saidelements being movable to position said surfaces at either of tw levelsfor the purpose of causing the respective needles associated {with saidelements to draw long or short 2%. In a knitting machine, thecombination with a series of needles of a series of web holders providedwith knockover surfaces, said web holders being movable to position thesaid knockover surfaces at either of two levels to cause the needlesassociated with the said web holders to draw long or short loops, andmeans for varying the movement of the web holders to hold down the loopson the needle shanks to correspond with the ength of loop formed on saidknockover suraces.

23. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles of aseries of web holders provided with knockover surfaces,

means for moving the web holders to position the knockover surfaces ateither of two levels for the purpose of causing the needles associatedtherewith to draw long or short loops, and means for varying themovement of the web holders to hold down the loops during the advancingmovement of the needles to correspond with the length of loop drawn downover the knockover surfaces.

In testimony whereof I have signed my no name to this specification.

MAX 0. MILLER.

